Hi Caat, I'm sorry you are in so much pain. I hope you can find relief. My radiation nurses suggested over the counter pyridium to help with burning pain during urination. They also suggested aquaphor and Vitamin A & E cream to put on around the clock, except not within two hours before radiatio...

My radiation nurse recommended pyridium to help with the burning sensation when I pee. My radiation team also had me use dilators during treatment to help keep my vaginal tissue out of the radiation field and help prevent stenosis. I had my period in October during the start of radiation, and that's...

I hope you're feeling better Caat I had 25 treatments of radiation + Xeloda and my pain was at its worst 5-7 days after the last radiation treatment, and pretty healed up by day 14. I used a lot of Aquaphor, calendula, coconut oil, Rick Simpson oil and Vitamin A & E. cream and tried to air out a...

Yes thank you for all the replies. & thank you Lee. I'm able to see the silver lining. I'm alive and I'm getting a little bit better everyday. I feel very grateful and fortunate to be in the care of UCSF. I verified that my surgeon is board certified. She is the Chief of Colorectal Surgery. My n...

Hi Adele I'm still coming around to the idea. I had initially hoped to avoid surgery altogether, and planned on having a resection connection. I've done chemo and radiation with the intention to shrink my tumor enough to give my surgeon a bit more margin to work with. The tumor did shrink quite a bi...

Hi Adele Its nice to meet you but I am sorry for the reason you are here. I was diagnosed in Feb 2017. My tumor is 2 cm from the anal verge. I did my chemo over the summer and radiation in Oct & Nov 2017 and now heading in for surgery in Jan 2018. I was able to walk to and from my radiation appo...

Hello friends I have an upcoming Stoma Marking appointment to prepare for my permanent colostomy. Surgery date January 2018 at UCSF What questions should I ask my surgical team? What do you wish you had known earlier or asked about sooner? I really appreciate any tips or experiences you can share. T...